Week 3

It's amazing to look at the different degrees of difficulty between hearing a language and being able to speak that same language. After 3 weeks of Spanish bombardment I find that I can sit and listen to a lecture for an hour and a half and understand about 85% of the material, yet when my host family has a conversation over dinner I struggle to discern what the topic is. However, my goal was to greatly improve my Spanish while here, and I do believe that there has been at least a little improvement thus far!

I finished my first (official) week of classes on Thursday afternoon. Overall it was a fairly uneventful process: I went to classes, I took notes, and then I left wondering how I would pass! (All a normal day's thought process.) Despite the difficulty with the language barrier, the students in my classes have been extremely helpful and amicable, and I can't thank them enough.

Outside of class I had a bunch of opportunities to experience Chilean culture. Sunday morning I joined my host siblings for Mass. I must admit that I had close to no idea what was going on, but it was a very enjoyable experience nevertheless. Unfortunately there was no organ in the church we visited: music was provided by a solo guitarist and sung without the aid of hymnals or other written materials. Most of the process was a complete mystery, but I did recognize the Nicene Creed and snippets of Amazing Grace!

Thursday night CAUC (an organization whose goal is to bring together exchange students and Chilean students at PUC) hosted a get-together at a local discoteca, which I attended with some friends from IES. We met students from all over the world, including (but not limited to) Australia, France, Italy, Mexico, Equador, and others. It was a great opportunity to meet other students experiencing the same challenges as I am but with whom I had to communicate in Spanish. (Good practice!) Hopefully I'll get to interact more with these acquaintances more in the upcoming weeks!

IES offered a tour of the historical part of Santiago with a professor of history on Friday, so I got up early to explore that area of the city, which I haven't had a chance to see much of thus far. I've included a picture of La Moneda again because it has Argentinian flags flying out front: the president of Argentina visited Chile this weekend! That evening I also got to attend an event that I thought would be an opera, but ended up being a symphony concert including some famous opera pieces, sung by international performers, in an open-air amphitheater in the middle of a busy Santiago street. The climax of the performance was the encore: the mambo from West Side Story. The conductor invited audience members to come up and dance on stage, and a friend immediately got up and sprinted to be part of the entertainment! See pictures below (of both events):

Saturday was a dia of descanso for me. I spent the morning helping my host brother with math homework: since my knowledge of mathematical terms in Spanish is limited to about 2 words I was trying to explain in Spanglish, while he responded in Spanish too rapid to comprehend. It was an interesting experience, but a good way to spend the morning! During the afternoon I attended a youth group meeting at the invitation of a friend in one of my classes. The other members were incredibly nice and super patient with my lack of Spanish knowledge, which provided a welcoming atmosphere. For those who read my blog and have gone to Workcamp, it was somewhat similar to the nightly meetings: we sang songs and shared stories and listened to a message from the youth pastor. One of the songs was even the same as another I know, but in Spanish! To wrap up the day I brought home a bottle of wine to share with my host mom, and we sat and chatted and shared stories. (She tells me Spanish gets easier when you've had a little to drink, but I'm not so sure!)



So that was my week...the following is my perception and observations of Chilean food. Read on if you like! (This is partly for the benefit of Senora Roy's class: good luck with your food projects!)

Food in Chile is really bland. This isn't overall bad, except when you're craving flavors and some rich spices, but can't find them. For meals my host family provides two types of ahi (hot pepper) toppings: a powder literally made of crushed ahi, and a salsa-ish substance that includes ahi.

For those not familiar with Latinamerican culture, it is typical that lunch be the largest meal of the day, served around 2-3pm, with a small breakfast and either a smaller dinner or a meal called 'once' (like the number). Breakfast is usually some bread with your choice of smushed avocado, jelly, butter, or nothing and some Nescafe coffee powder stuff. (They don't drink coffee from beans here: just the Nescafe stuff. Luckily I don't enjoy coffee, so I'm not craving for it!) Once is similar, and may include some cookies or juice.

The weirdest meal I've had was the following: a bed of lettuce with lemon juice, topped with 'puree' (mashed potatoes) topped with an egg sunny-side-up. Sounds disgusting, but was surprisingly good! They also have the stereotypical Latino foods, like empenadas or pastel de choclo (corn) or sopaipillas. However, food can also be really strange such as the above, or what is referred to as a "completo". This delicacy is a hotdog covered in mayonaise and avocado and tomato. They also have a dish called "Pollo/Carne Pobre", which is basically a piece of meat with french fries and an egg sunny-side-up. (Anything 'pobre' has french fries). I was also served Chilean cake: it was a layer of cake, topped by a thick layer of strawberry yogurt, and jello as the finishing touch. Really strange, but oddly delicious! I don't have pictures, but you can google any of the above to get a better idea of what I'm talking about. My favorite food thus far is a tie between manjar (almost the same as Dulce de Leche) and pebre (like salsa, but served on bread and with a Chilean twist!).

As for drinks, Chile is famous for both it's wine and it's Pisco. Pisco is an alcohol produced by the fermentation of a special type of grape, and is typically mixed with soda or other fruity flavors to be served. (It is a hard alcohol, not wine.) There are also drinks particular to Chile, including 'mote-con-huesillos' which is a special kind of wheat and peach juice, taken cold, or 'jote', a mix of red wine and Coca Cola.

My host mom says that for a Chilean I'd be considered picky, because I don't like ensalada de tomate (which is literally just cut tomatoes on a plate; not salad), mushrooms, or fish. I thought I was doing well with not being too choosy, but I guess not! However, I have yet to find a food I can't stand. There are a lot more things that I've eaten and not listed above, so if you'd like more information let me know! I'd be happy to talk more about my eating experiences!